Reds rule province

Times Reporter

 

Strathmore’s AA Mosquito baseball team conquered Tier 2 Provincials this past weekend in Red Deer, after winning Tier 4 Provincials last year – a spectacular jump.

“The kids are so excited, they played so hard. It’s such an accomplishment. Last year, when we won the Provincials for Tier 4, they were like ‘this may be the only championship you win’,” said L.J. McNeil, whose son Keegan, plays right field for the Strathmore Reds.

The Reds lost their first game on Friday, but went undefeated for the rest of the weekend; against Red Deer on Saturday, the boys were down 7-1 at one point, and stormed back to win 15-10. The eventually beat the Red Deer Braves again in the final on Sunday, 12-1.

“I think what happened, the Friday night game we lost, basically then, we knew we had to win the remaining three games to definitely be into the final. We just really came on with some amazing plays and amazing games, we just kept winning,” said L.J. McNeil.

Seven players on the 10 and 11-year-old boys mosquito team will be moving up to peewee next season, including Keegan McNeil.

“This was the best weekend I’ve played,” he said. “I had a few good catches, I had some great hits, and I had some RBIs.”

Keegan says he enjoys baseball so much because “the game can go either way in one inning”, proven by their Saturday victory over the Braves.

Excited to move up to peewee next year, Keegan says he’ll run on the treadmill and stay in shape. After winning provincials the past two years of his competitive baseball career, he eagerly wants a three-peat.

“During the season, we’d win a couple and lose a couple. We knew going into provincials that the team was capable of winning, we didn’t know how they would come on,” said mother L.J. “I think we could’ve held our own in the Tier 1 level as well. I don’t know that we would’ve won it, but we certainly would’ve given everybody a run for their money.”

Coach Jason Tanton would like to thank manager Sonny Warrack and the coaching staff for their efforts.

“I have coached a long time and won multiple provincial championships and have coached at National Championships – but this is the team I am the proudest of,” Coach Tanton said.